Why?
Why do we hurt the ones we love the most? What do we have to gain hurting them?
Hell…I don’t have the answers but I was taught a lesson in kindness from one such person I vilified…
I took a deep look at the asshole I had become. Yes. I’m an asshole. I spew hate to men who haven’t given me what I wanted. It’s so easy to be selfish and so hard to be selfless. We get so blinded by our needs that we don’t consider the other person and their situation. We make bad situations worse. Hoping to get what we want. Will do whatever it takes to get that. With blinders on.
After I laid it all out there for my readers to judge the man who broke my heart, I was reminded that he isn’t all bad. Nobody is. Not fair to paint one side of the picture.
Understandably, he was NOT happy about what I wrote. And with all the hate I managed to throw at him, he fully accepted his responsibility in all of it. “No hard feelings.” That’s quite a thing to say after everything I said. He even offered tickets to the show he directs that was in town this past week. I declined them at first, but then thought what a great gift to give someone who would appreciate it.
The woman, who has cared for me and my family since my 3rd child was born, deserved a break. Deserved to be treated to something special. So, he left her 5 tickets for her and her family to attend the show. Her kids were so excited. She was so happy to experience something she has never had the opportunity to do so. Happy to see her kids experience something for the first time. These tickets would have cost nearly $1,000. No way she could ever afford to do something like that.
I’ve taken my kids to several of those shows. They wanted to go but I gave the opportunity to this family who has spent years taking care of me and my home and my children. I think to myself. Something so insignificant, so easily attainable to me was the highlight of her family’s year. Think about that.
I asked him to pay it forward. And he did. After all the pain I endured from the past year and a half, he managed to do something so meaningful for someone he met only once. I’m very grateful.
He hurt me. I hurt him. It’s all so senseless. And, in the end, he was the bigger person. Time to let go of the hate. Stop hurting the ones you love the most.
